


Learning Objectives

by agentcalliope



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fun, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, Light-Hearted, Parent-Child Relationship, Science Experiments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 02:03:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6066484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentcalliope/pseuds/agentcalliope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Màiri just needs to get through a couple more hours of school until she can see her parents, and enjoy her weekend. Nothing turned out the way she planned- but she's not entirely too disappointed with the outcome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learning Objectives

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shes_an_oddbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shes_an_oddbird/gifts).



> This is my secret valentine's day gift for shes-an-oddbird!!! I hope you like it!!! :D 
> 
> also thanks to welldonefitz and thelatenightstoryteller for being my betas!

* * *

 

Màiri hated it.

She hated the feeling of guilt and disappointment that stirred deep within her stomach, causing her eyes to blink fast in order to hold back the tears. She shook her head, hoping that the feeling would subside with the movement.

It didn’t work.

She couldn’t believe she’s actually dreading going home.

She trudged along the school hallway, the sounds of her classmates around her muffled, fading into the background as she tried, but failed, to put _The Incident_ out of her mind.

God, she felt sick.

How could she have been so stupid? She felt embarrassment redden her cheeks, the panic threatening to override all her senses. In all her nine years on earth, she had never encountered anything as horrible as what had happened after lunchtime.

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, the feeling that she was going to have to explain to her parents that-

And how could she possibly tell them _The Incident_ , knowing that they’ll be so disappointed in her? She couldn’t possibly bear it. Lost in her thoughts, Màiri vaguely noticed that she had walked out the door, and stopped in her tracks to gaze into the sea of parents, searching for hers.

There they were.

Despite her absolute dread, Màiri couldn’t help but feel her spirits lift a bit when she saw them. Every weekday, without fail, they manage to always be on time to pick her up from school. She felt a sudden surge of affection towards them, and for a second she nearly forgot about the shame burning her up inside.

She ran, her ponytail flying behind her, slinging her TARDIS backpack off her back and dropping it on the ground as she crashed right into their arms.

“OOF!” Her father exaggerated, laughing as Màiri plowed into them, her expected force still causing them to stumble back a bit. Her arms wrapped around her parents’ waists as she hung on tight, unwilling to ever let go.

Màiri felt her heart sink as _The Incident_ weaved its slimy tendrils into the corners of her mind, and the anxiety that had been brewing had stirred once more.

She had been dreading going home- this was still true. But she couldn’t deny the longing that tugged at her gut for comfort of it. The chattering of Scottish and English accents, the smell of sterile lab coats, the security of her parents’ hugs- she couldn’t dread that.

“Why, Màiri!” Her mother laughed, her voice warm and soothing, virtually dripping with love. Chuckling again slightly, her mother shook her head back and forth as her right hand reached down to rest on Màiri’s back. Màiri vaguely felt her father’s left hand do the same as they both hugged her as best they could with her wedged between them. “This is quite the welcome!” Her mother exclaimed.

She couldn’t look at them. She couldn’t look at their faces because if she did, there would be no stopping the wave of tears that threatened her and she’d _have_ to mention what had happened at school.

But her parent’s weren’t stupid. Maybe they sensed her distress, which by then probably seemed to be radiating off of her small body. Or maybe it was because she didn’t greet them with her usual enthusiasm. Or maybe-

Maybe it was because they were Leo and Jemma Fitz-Simmons, certified geniuses, partners, psychically linked, and agents of SHIELD. And they knew their daughter.

Even though she didn’t glance up, Màiri could practically see her parents use that strange superpower they had: how they can talk without speaking. She knew they were sharing worried glances with each other, and that just made her squeeze her eyes and her arms tighter.

 

They always knew what the other was thinking.

Màiri _cursed_ it.

“Is something the matter, Monkey?” her father whispered softly as he reached down and picked her up, her mother somehow keeping her hand on Màiri’s back, rubbing it up and down to console her as she was in her father’s arms.

Keeping her eyes closed, still insistent in not meeting their concerned gazes, Màiri just wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her face into the curve of his collar. She didn’t respond to his question, although she knew by not responding she was confirming their suspicions that she was upset about something.

She might’ve been stupid and careless enough to cause _The Incident_ , but she was still smart, especially for her age. She _was_ her parents’ child, of course.

She could hear other families bustle all around them, kids shouting with glee for the weekend, but none of them produced the British intonations that sounded like home.

“Ah, I see. Don’t want to talk about it yet, eh?” His rumbling voice broke the brief silence of the family as she felt him begin to walk, his arms easily keeping their hold on her. For a brief second Màiri worried about her backpack, but a quick glance over her father’s shoulder showed that her mother had picked it up and slung it over her shoulder as she walked slightly behind them. They made eye contact and her mother gave her a small smile as if to say that everything would be okay. Màiri burrowed her face deeper into the crease of his neck, wishing she could just stay there in his arms forever.

***

The car ride was silent, her mother driving as Màiri watched the world pass by her window. There was no doubt in her mind her parents were stealing glances at her in the rearview mirror, waiting for her to talk to them. She moved from watching the blurbs of trees and houses and pretended to be really interested a small rip in her seat. Time was a ghastly friend, however, and soon the car stopped she realized that they were in their driveway. Her parents turned to look at her expectedly. She couldn’t avoid it any longer and her eyes started to well up, and soon the sobs started.

“I-I-I got a C on my-my science test!” her words gushed as she lamented, at last recounting _The Incident_. “I got it back today and I just don’t understand! I studied so ha-hard! Mommy Daddy I’m so sorry!!” she covered her face with her hands, feeling very, very small.

She was too wrapped up in feeling disappointed at herself that she never considered that her parents wouldn’t feel the same.

“Oh, Màiri!” Her parents exclaimed at the same time, unbuckling their seatbelts and they began to climb into the backseat of the car. She looked up, hiccupping slightly from her outburst and hazel eyes blurry with tears as she felt them slip into the seats beside her. She felt reassuring arms around her as she calmed down, and then her mother spoke first, her voice clear.

“It’s okay, Màiri. Really, it’s okay. You had us so worried! We thought something was seriously wrong!”

These words confused Màiri: wasn’t getting a C on a test ‘seriously wrong’?

“But Mommy,” Màiri whimpered, eyes big with disbelief, “I got a C! On a _test!_ ”

She swiveled her head to her father, who was now laughing faintly at her response and she couldn’t understand what was so funny when she had just poured her soul out and admitted to the worst thing _ever_.

“What is it Daddy?” She huffed as he grinned and gazed at her mother, who was also looking rather miffed at his expression of humor.

“Yep, she’s our daughter,” he said, causing her mother to roll her eyes, but before she could get a single word out Màiri beat her to it.

“Well, of _course_ I’m your daughter! My physical traits clearly indicate that- ”

“You’re only further proving my point, Monkey!” Her father giggled, reaching over her mother to tickle her. Màiri shrieked with laughter, and a little confusion, pressing herself against the side of the car door in an attempt to escape. But her mother also gave into the contagious laughter, joining in on the tickling until Màiri was breathless from happiness and exhausted from laughing.

The tickles subsided, and her parents’ faces gave way to more serious features. Her mother gently reached out and positioned Màiri’s face so that they were looking into each other’s eyes.

“Màiri, there are much more awful things in life to be sad and disappointed about: and this isn’t one of them. So, you did poorly on an exam- it’s not the end of the world.” Her hand extended to tuck a curl that had fallen out of Màiri’s ponytail behind her ear. She smiled, and Màiri felt the whole world pause.

“We’re going to fix this. Together.”

Màiri felt a sense of relief when she heard those words, that although she didn’t do well her parents would be still there to support and love her.

But obviously there was more to this statement that Màiri didn’t know, because she didn’t understand why her father looked at her mother, beaming as her mother looked at her father, grinning and they shared a kiss that was full of love and devotion.

Grown-ups were weird sometimes.

***

Her mother had just gotten off the phone with her teacher, giving her a triumphant smile that stopped her discussion with her father over the best Percy Jackson book.

“Ok, Màiri. There’s bad news and good news. The bad news is that Mrs. Mahmood cannot let you retake the test because that wouldn’t be fair to the other students.” She held up her hand as Màiri began to protest, continuing on with her recount of the phone call.

“What she _can_ do, however is weave you into the registration for Sunday’s science fair, and if she thinks that your project has demonstrated that you fully understand the material, she will give you extra credit. Now, I know this doesn’t give you a lot of time to prepare, but if your father and I help you and you work hard this weekend, it can definitely be done!”

Màiri didn’t want to participate in a science fair, much less have to present something that she _obviously_ had a hard time understanding. But if she could get extra credit, she guessed that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Her father suddenly leaned across the table, his excitement practically radiating off of him as he spoke to her.

“Wait. Wasn’t this unit on volcanoes?” he asked, feigning an air of innocence that Màiri quickly saw through. She glanced at her mother, who was also beginning to show signs of enthusiasm. Màiri, puzzled, nodded her head.

 _But_ , Màiri thought, _what could possibly be exciting about volcanoes_?

“Excellent”, her father said cryptically, rubbing his hands together as her mother ran up the stairs shouting about something like Paper-Mache and… baking soda?

Scratch that: grown ups were weird _all_ the time.

***

“Ugh, Fitz! We can’t have Màiri’s volcano _actually_ have pyroclastic flow! That’s why we use the baking soda and vinegar! Do you even know what pyroclastic flow is? It’s-”

 

“I _know_ what it is, Jemma: the fluidized mixture of solid to semi-solid fragments and hot, expanding gases that flow down the sides of a volcano, thank you very much! And it won’t be _actual_ pyroclastic flow, just a very close replica. All I’m saying is that if our volcano-”

 

“Màiri’s volcano.”

 

“ _Màiri’s_ volcano has pyroclastic flow, it’ll be better than all the other classic volcano projects out there! Everyone’s done _lava,_ but has anyone done pyroclastic flow?”

 

“… That’s actually a very good point, Fitz.”

 

“Thank you. Now, what kind of volcano should we do? I was thinking-“

 

“Stratovolcano?”

 

“Stratovolcano.”

 

This had been going on for _hours_.

She sat at the table, leaning her head on her hand as she watched her parents converse back and forth, working on what was supposed to be _her_ science project. When she had first started making the volcano, her parents had just offered their input, glancing over her shoulders as they went about their day; her father cooking or her mother writing emails. She was able to make the Paper-Mache model, but that’s all she had been able to do: before she knew it, Màiri was empty-handed and her parents were arguing over if they could effectively reproduce the effects of lahar on the Paper-Mache volcano without destroying it. Màiri sighed loudly, hoping to gain their attention but their minds were so focused elsewhere, they didn’t even glance up from their blueprints. Màiri loved when her parents helped her, but how could she prove that she learned about volcanoes when she couldn’t even work on hers?

Suddenly, Màiri came up with an idea. A very, very good idea in fact. She slipped from the table, not disturbing her parents, and ran upstairs to get her notebook. When she sat back down, she begun to listen very closely to her mother and father talk, jotting down what she could hear.

 

Màiri had to just laugh at the thought that neither of her parents had stopped and remembered that she was the one supposed to be making the volcano. Of course, they continued to take care of her, but every extra minute they had to spare was used on the stupid volcano. Even as they continued to work the entirety of Saturday, not _one_ of them had paused and handed her back her science project. _Auntie Daisy was right,_ Màiri considered, _once Mom and Dad started ‘Fitz-Simmonsing’, there was no stopping them._ So they worked, and she wrote, and when Sunday morning came her parents excitedly woke her up and loaded the wrapped volcano into the back of the car. Màiri rehearsed her speech to herself as her parents bickered about the name of the volcano as her father drove to school.

 

“Jemma, the only reason you _think_ I want to name the volcano Erta Ale is because I love Ethiopian food but that is not true! Erta Ale is exceptionally symmetrical, which our volcano is, and-”

 

“Fitz! Erta Ale is a _Shield_ volcano, whereas our volcano is a _Strato_ volcano! _Strato!_ It only makes sense that it’s name be Mt. Fuji: which is, I remind you, an _actual_ Stratovolcano in Japan!”

 

Needless to say, the car ride felt longer than usual.

***

The school gym was humming with energy as the students set up their projects. Màiri felt overwhelmed by all the amazing displays as she wheeled the cart, parading the volcano behind her. She saw homemade lava lamps, sugar crystallization, floating rocks- all these ideas kids had come up with, probably without the help of their scientist parents. Màiri’s throat felt suddenly dry, and she swallowed in an effort to chase it, and her nervousness, away. She reached the spot designated for her and, after glancing behind to make sure her parents were following, she started setting up the table. Her mother and father were busy putting the last touches on- “Mt. Fuji!” “Erta Ale!”- when Màiri caught sight of a interesting group of people coming towards them, people who emitted an air of importance and mystery to them. She put down the poster she was hanging, tugging on her parents’ sleeves until they looked up and saw the group. They just smiled, tilting their heads towards the group of people, silently encouraging her to go as they both returned to tweaking the volcano. Màiri darted between her classmates, running to the team, acting like she hadn’t seen them in years although it had only been a couple of months.

They were dressed in civilian clothes, but Màiri would recognize them anywhere.

“Aunt Daisy! Uncle Hunter! Aunt Bobbi! Uncle Mack!” Aunt Daisy was in the front of the team, and when she recognized that it was Màiri running toward them and shouting their names, she smiled and knelt; stretching her arms out to receive Màiri.

Except Hunter quickly moved in front of Daisy, causing Màiri to run into his arms instead as he lifted her into the air, grinning as she laughed with delight and surprise.

She was pretty sure people were staring, but she didn’t care at all.

 

“Here’s my favorite niece! Oh my GOD you’ve gotten so big, Mary I can _barely_ hold you now!” He pretended to struggle holding her as she snorted, faking annoyance as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace.

“I’m your _only_ niece, Uncle Hunter! And my name is Màiri, not Mary!” She replied, laughing extra hard when she saw Daisy shooting him daggers from her eyes behind his back. She watched as Bobbi placed a hand on Daisy’s shoulders, smirking.

“Daisy, we are in a public area: you can’t kill him here,” Bobbi mentioned, sounding very serious. But then in a sing-songy voice added, “You can do it later back at the base.” Màiri snickered once more as Hunter pretended not to hear his wife and team member conspire to kill him, instead widening his eyes at Màiri in fake surprise.

“What? Your name is Màiri? What kind of a name is _that_? Where are your parents I’ll bloody- what kind of people name their child _Màiri?”_ He bopped her nose with a finger, causing both of them to giggle as a man reached where the two were standing, towering over them and shaking his head.

“You’re just still upset they didn’t name her after _you_ , Hunter,” Mack chuckled in his deep baritone voice. “Now, give her to me so she can at last hug her _favorite_ uncle hello.” Mack commanded, heartedly laughing as Hunter feigned irritation and mumbled something about favorites, reaching to pull Màiri into his arms, hugging her.

“How’s my girl doing? You excited for today?”

Màiri shook her head in disbelief.

“Why are you guys even here? Not that I’m not happy to see you or anything, but this is just a children’s science fair!”

Daisy interjected, shaking her head as she took her turn greeting Màiri.

“Well, we came to support you, of course! Your Mom and Dad told us about the fair, and since Coulson and May are away on vacation- not to mention that _I am_ also the Director- I decided we were going to take a little field trip! Besides, we’re family, and if that means coming to ‘a children’s science fair’ then that means I’m gonna spend my day watching little snot-nose monsters telling me how to make my own own soda.” Màiri and Daisy hugged hello tightly before she was eventually passed to Bobbi, her aunts laughing as Hunter started asking Daisy where she saw the soda experiment. It was while she was in Bobbi’s arms, looking at all their smiling faces, Màiri felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

Bobbi carried her as the group moved to her table, her parents’ backs to them as they still set up the volcano. Daisy issued a fake cough, aimed to get their attention and they spun around, greeting the team like they hadn’t just seen them last week at work.

“So, Màiri, is this the big project?” Daisy gestured towards the volcano, reaching out to touch the rim of the crater. “How does it work?”

“No!” Her parents exclaimed simultaneously, her father slapping Daisy’s hand away as her mother shook her head distastefully. “You do not touch that!” He reiterated, moving in to make sure Daisy didn’t harm the volcano in anyway as she rubbed her hand like it hurt. Màiri giggled slightly in Bobbi’s arms at the thought that her father hurt Daisy. As if! Daisy was the Director of Shield: she was practically invincible.

“Why does this feel like déjà vu?” Daisy grumbled as Bobbi, gazing at the volcano suddenly narrowed her eyes and Màiri guessed that if she had x-ray vision she would totally see the gears whirring inside Bobbi’s head. In fact, she would’ve seen gears turning inside Mack and Hunter’s brains too- they weren’t stupid.

 _Well_ , Màiri thought, _Uncle Hunter certainly acted stupid sometimes._

“Wait a second…” Bobbi started to say before Mack interrupted her, arms crossing over his chest as he gazed down to look at her parents.

“Turbo… Did you and Jemma make this volcano?”  
Màiri looked at her parents, whose faces rapidly started to turn beet red as they realized the extent of their efforts.

“We may have…” Her father began to say as her mother finished.

“Gotten a bit carried away.” Her mother turned to look at the volcano, her hand to her mouth as she gasped.

“Fitz! What have we done? This was supposed to be Màiri’s project! Not ours!” Her father’s eyes widened as he covered his face with his hands, moving then to laced his fingers behind his head and glanced at the ceiling. “Bloody hell, Jemma! This is A+ parenting, it is. We should’ve stopped- oh my god.” Their distress was disturbed by Daisy laughing, doubling over as the team looked at her in shock.

“Are you serious?? You guys _literally_ hijacked your daughter’s science project! Man, I’m _never_ going to let you guys forget this. Classic Fitzsimmons. Classic!! I can’t wait to tell Coulson and May, they are gonna love this when they get back from Mexico.”

The mention of Màiri caused her parents to both look at her, distress in her eyes as her mother quickly moved to Bobbi and took Màiri out of her arms. Màiri didn’t know what else to do but wait for them to finish speaking before she could tell them that it was okay, and that she wasn’t angry but in fact had a plan B. And her parents were rapidly spitting out apologies.

 

“Màiri we are so sorry we don’t know-”

 

“What came over us! You must be so mad and upset we will pack up-”

 

“The volcano and tell Mrs. Mahmood what happened we will make it all okay, okay??”

  
Her parents stared at her, waiting for her response but of course the moment Màiri finally had the chance to speak, she heard her teacher’s voice.  
“Hello Màiri, I’m happy to see you made it today.” Her teacher smiled pleasantly as she sauntered up to the group, clipboard in her hand and flanked by the two other 4th grade teachers. Màiri’s mother set her down and tried to make herself more presentable with her father doing the same; smoothing their hair and wiping particles of Paper-Mache off their clothes.

“Dr. and Dr. Fitz-Simmons,” Mrs. Mahmood nodded, “This is Mr. Jakande and Ms. Fukui; they are also judging the fair with me. I’m quite curious to see what Màiri has done for today.” The other teachers shook hands with her parents as Màiri quickly nudged her way between Mac and Hunter to grab her sheets of paper lying on the table. She gestured towards the team, shooing her hands as they understood and moved so that the table was not obstructed from view. She moved back to her place just in time to cut off her parents, who had been just beginning to explain the situation to the teachers.

“I would love to show you my project, Mrs. Mahmood, Mr. Jakande, Ms. Fukui: I have a lot to talk about.” She grinned, walking up to the volcano. She glanced at her notes for a split second, then dived into her well-rehearsed presentation.

“As you can see, with some help from my parents I have built a small replica of a Stratovolcano. There are many different types of volcanoes, such as Cinder cones, Shield or Lava domes, etc. Stratovolcanoes are composed of multiple layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice and volcanic ash. If you look here…”

And on Màiri went, explaining the various stages of volcanoes and pointing out the details in the replica; the teachers all nodding their heads and occasionally marking off something on their clipboards. Her parents stood off by the side, standing with the team as she spoke, her hands gesturing an explosion and making sound effects as she recounted how eruptions occur.

The teachers murmured their approval as she continued on, recounting information that had evaded her when she learned it in school but had been so easy to remember when she had learned it from her parents.

She wasn’t looking at them, but if she was, she would’ve seen their proud faces as she spoke.  
She finished the first part of her speech, and reached over for the clicker her father had modified for turning the volcano on. She clicked it, the volcano immediately started to shake and soon erupted: gray gravel mixed in with some kind of chemical dripping down the sides.

“That is bloody _disgusting_.” Hunter whispered, earning him a cuff from Bobbi as Màiri did her best to pretend not to have heard him as she explained pyroclastic flow to the judges and the aftermath of eruptions.  
She concluded her presentation and paused, waiting for the teachers to speak.  
Mrs. Mahmood, scribbling on her clipboard for what seemed like forever, gave a final tap with her pen and smiled at Màiri.

“Thank you very much, Màiri. This has been very informative, and you certainly have done your research. We have to go see the other students’ projects now, but you have earned your extra credit. Be sure to stick around until 3:00 when we announce the winners.” She gave Màiri a wink, nodded at her parents once more and moved with the teachers towards the next table.

Màiri turned to her family, her smile huge as they cheered and congratulated her, Daisy giving her a high five and Hunter complaining that not doing a Shield volcano was a missed opportunity. Her father knelt on one knee to bring himself to her height, grasping her arms as they grinned at each other.

“Monkey, you were _amazing_. How did you manage to learn all of that?”

Màiri grinned even wider, if that was even possible.

“I learned from the best.”

She felt her mother hug her from the back, and Màiri leaned into her, eyes closed in content as her father stood up and hugged her too, his arms wrapping around her mother and incasing Màiri smack in the middle of her parents.

Màiri felt a little bit like the inside of an Oreo, but she was too happy to complain.

She heard the shutter of a camera, and her parents and her turned to look at Hunter, who was frozen like a deer in headlights and a phone in his hands.

“What? It was such a scrapbook worthy memory!” He sputtered as Mack started a deep chuckle that contagiously spread throughout the group. They were a strange sight to see. To the untrained eye, Màiri guessed, they looked like a rather random assortment of people, all laughing together, in the middle of a school’s science fair.

She guessed that they were _all_ a little bit weird.

***

She didn’t win first place.

She _was_ maybe a tad bit disappointed when Mrs. Mahmood and the other judges announced that Fatima Azizi had won- who wouldn’t be?

But Fatima was her friend, and Màiri knew that she had worked on her project really hard. She decided that Fatima deserved the win more than herself, and quickly shrugged it off.  
_She_ didn’t care-

But her parents did.

 

“A potato. I cannot believe _we_ lost to a _potato,_ Jemma.”

 

“I know Fitz I know! Our volcano was much rather advanced than any of the other projects here! And it didn’t even rank in the top three!”

 

“I bet if we had _real_ lava next year we would totally win.”

 

“There are so many practical reasons why we cannot bring actual _lava_ into our daughter’s school, Fitz!”

 

'Well, I don't suppose _you've_ got a better idea?”

 

“…”

 

“… Jemma?”

 

“ What if we…”

 

Màiri knows that look. It’s the look that they share when they read each others minds: their superpower.

 _Oh no_ , she thought as she shared a pained look with Aunt Daisy, and then the rest of the team nodding their sympathies towards her.

_They’re ‘Fitz-Simmonsing’._

But secretly-

 

Màiri loves it.

**Author's Note:**

> didn't want to give the prompt away in the beginning, but it was: Fitz and Simmons help their child with a science project.
> 
> Also, any information about volcanoes was stolen off of wikipedia among other various websites.
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed!


End file.
